Suspected Al Shabaab militants attacked a guest house in Mandera town on Monday morning, killing one security officer in the process.
During the 2:30 am incident, the suspected militia are said to have been targeting non locals at a guest house during the early morning incident.
“We believe the assailants were targeting Jabane guesthouse which they thought could be accommodating some non-local guests, but there were none during the attack,” said Mandera County Commissioner Fredrick Shisia.
According to Shisia, the KPR officer was manning Deputy Governor Omar Maalim Mohamed’s residence a few meters away, and was caught in the melee as the assailants were taking off after a shootout with officers.
Shisia was however keen to not that the attack was purely on the guest house, and not in any way on the deputy governor’s residence.
Equity Bank, which is located a few metres from the guesthouse was partly destroyed by the attack, as heavy explosives were used.
The attackers, who are said to have been around eight in number, planted Improvised Explosive Devices and engaged security agents in shootout before escaping.
It is not clear if the deputy governor was in his house at the time of the incident.